All Forum Posts by: Emily B.

Welcome, @William Stitt! Check out Meetup.com for Lansing-area investor groups. If you do decide to start a PM business, and you're good at it, there would be a lot of people wanting your services. I've also found the Ann Arbor club (also on meetup.com) to be very helpful as well, especially when just starting out. As to renting/selling your house, what is the market like? Do you have a property manager available or would you managing it yourself? If managing yourself, are you willing to make the drive(s) when necessary to deal with tenants and issues? Just throwing out a few questions for you to consider when making your decision. There are many other considerations, of course, but to me those are good starting points.

@Lina Sitto totally agree with you on everything one does is something that helps them, in one way or another. Every time I start to feel like I 'wasted' my time on my degrees, I am reminded in some small way how those choices have helped/influenced me today.

For me, it was a B.F.A. in graphic design and photography, and then an M.A. in Digital Media & Art/Technology. Working as a designer has taught me to think about problems from various angles and provided the skills to do analysis in a variety of ways (just needed to learn the formulas when it comes to numbers). It's also helped in physical/visual design when rehabbing (especially because I initially started out wanting to be an architect). And the tech-end of my degree has certainly helped as well, again in a variety of ways. I consider myself a forever-student in that I am always wanting to learn new things (but not always in formal education).

Hi Riley, welcome to BP and MSU. As an alumna, my advice would be to get started in real estate however you can if that is your long-term goal. Even if it's just learning things to start and talking with others. If your long-term goal is to get a job after graduation, then maybe focus more on school. I too intended to get started in East Lansing but like Bao said, it is very expensive and there are a lot of hoops to jump through. Make sure you learn neighborhoods and the types of licenses, as well as which neighborhoods no longer allow rentals at all (unless you get enough signatures).  There are plenty of nice pockets just outside of East Lansing that are still close to campus and an area students would live. I think those areas would be an easier starting ground for you. 

Steven Bishop any banks you would recommend? I'm doing pretty much the same thing and have been wondering how it will play out with the property in the business name. I will hit the typical 6-month seasoning period this summer.

Hard money lender from your local real estate group. That's a small enough amount.

If the home is worth 250k and they do an owner-occupied refi, they'll likely only be able to take out 75-80% of the equity. On a 250k house that's 200k at 80% LTV. If they want to still have their house 'half paid' and not take out all of the equity, then that would leave you with closer to 75k to work with. Most lenders are not going to do a cash-out refi without leaving some equity in the property.

What is their current payment and interest? If they refi, I'm guessing it would be a lower rate than 17 years ago, but it's best to check. Does her credit qualify for the best rate? And have you planned on making a monthly payment back to their mortgage for the loan? Do they want to 'restart' their mortgage payments for another 15, 20 or 30 years? These are all things your family should be discussing.

You could also have them look into a HELOC, which allow you a little more flexibility in terms of paying as you use it, vs. taking it all out at once regardless of whether you have a property or not.

@John Backus I realize I'm a little late to this thread, but I'd be happy to check it out for you as well. Also agree with the suggestions of checking out other contractors/quotes. I'd be happy to send you a few that we've used and have been happy with if you need them. I'm also curious which property management company you're using...I've been asking around at local meetings for recommendations and there really haven't been any in this area. Feel free to pm me if you'd like.

@Sid Leibowitz thank you, this makes a lot of sense. It was having the number for applications that I was worried about, but your "trick" is a nice work around. I certainly don't want to pay for a number if I don't have to, so I appreciate you clarifying the process for me. I'll be focusing on those net 30 lines instead as a starting point.

@Leasa Keys thanks for the info. To answer your questions in order - yes, not yet, and will be 1 year old this year. I'm working on getting the net 30 trade lines. Any suggestions on places to start? And why 6?

@Christopher Hutchins thanks, I've gone through the steps to get one but like I said, they are trying to say I can't complete the business profile without paying (that's the part I'm trying to figure out if it's legit or not - which the more I talk to people, it sounds like it isn't necessary).

I've heard this as well. But I thought it's the only way to get out of giving a personal guarantee (soc #) when applying for any type of business credit.